Microsoft Releasing One Million Dormant Xbox Live Gamertags Tomorrow

ffronw

I am a meat popsicle
Oct 24, 2013
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Microsoft Releasing One Million Dormant Xbox Live Gamertags Tomorrow

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1322/1322256.jpgWith one million dormant Xbox Live Gamertags being released, you might be able to get the handle you always wanted.

As any online gamer will tell you, choosing your handle is one of the most important things you'll do. It's the name that people will know you by, and if you choose poorly, it can haunt you for years, especially if the service in question doesn't allow name changes (Looking at you, PSN).

If the handle you always wanted on Xbox Live was already taken when you created your account, you might get another shot at it tomorrow. In an announcement on his site [https://majornelson.com/2016/05/16/recycled-xbox-gamertags-releasing-may-18th/], Larry Hryb (Xbox Live's Major Nelson) said that the Gamertags in question are those that were created for the original Xbox, and were never migrated to Xbox 360. As we all know, it's common practice for users to flock to a new system and create their handles, even if they aren't planning on using the service. It sounds like the names Microsoft is releasing will be some of those.

While Microsoft isn't going to post a list of the tags they're releasing, they are telling us what categories these tags fall under. Major Nelson writes that the list includes proper names, pop culture references (entertainment, sports, gaming), types of food, geography and rravel, science and technology, math and numbers, animals, and some of the greatest inventions of all time. The tags will be released over a 24 hour period, which Major Nelson says will, "give our fans in various countries an equal chance to get one."

To qualify to get one of these Gamertags, you need to have an active Xbox Live Gold Subsription and at least one year of cumulative subscription time. To get one, qualified users can use Xbox.com [http://mjr.mn/1TjJmXz] or the Xbox app for Windows 10. Xbox One owners can also access these tags from their consoles, but 360 owners cannot.

These Gamertags will begin being made available at 2 PM ET tomorrow, May 18, 2016. If you're searching for a certain Gamertag, good luck!

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Neurotic Void Melody

Bound to escape
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Jul 15, 2013
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Does that mean there was a gamertag called "Sliced bread?" Because that is just...i don't even know anymore. Still not enough to win over any customers, i would hesitantly guess.
 

Covarr

PS Thanks
May 29, 2009
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I'm confused why these gamertags are only open to Gold members, considering that is not normally a requirement for changing your gamertag.

P.S. Thanks
 

TelosSupreme

New member
Dec 8, 2015
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Slightly off-topic, but am I the only one who can't view this article on its own page? The same happens with some a few of the more recent articles.
 

Living_Brain

When in doubt, overclock
Feb 8, 2012
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Well I suppose making this gold membership only will get some people to buy gold. Anyways this seems unnecessary, and I mean the gamertag system. Steam does it right, you have a unique account name that no one sees and a community name that can be anything you want it to be, at any time.
 

Chefsbrian

Senior Member
Jun 25, 2012
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Covarr said:
I'm confused why these gamertags are only open to Gold members, considering that is not normally a requirement for changing your gamertag.

P.S. Thanks
I imagine the idea is they'll be available to gold members first, and will eventually drop back down to be available to everyone. The main reasoning they can make being that silver accounts can't (Normally) play online, so having a special gamertag doesn't really matter nearly as much.

Still, wish they just did the steam thing and didn't care about the uniqueness of a name. I'm incredibly unlikely to be upset if I see a second of whatever dumb joke I name myself that day, especially if I can just change it up.
 

votemarvel

Elite Member
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Nov 29, 2009
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Covarr said:
I'm confused why these gamertags are only open to Gold members, considering that is not normally a requirement for changing your gamertag.

P.S. Thanks
The last time Microsoft did this most of the tags were snatched up by 0g account sellers. As you get a free change it was pure profit for them.

Ar least this time Microsoft get some of the profit.
 

Fijiman

I am THE PANTS!
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Dec 1, 2011
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Gibbagobba said:
Slightly off-topic, but am I the only one who can't view this article on its own page? The same happens with some a few of the more recent articles.
They still haven't quite got everything fixed quite yet from the site crashing last night, so that's probably what's doing it.

OT: They'll probably do a similar thing another few years for any gamer tags that were switched over to the 360, but haven't been used in past eight years or so. In either case I'm not terribly interested as I am perfectly fine with my gamer tag and would only change it if forced to.
 
Apr 5, 2008
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The only tag I would want I couldn't get before and doubt I could get now. Particularly since I don't and will never have Gold. XBox Live is rife with hackers who stole money from me and MS let them get away with it. Will never spend a penny with the thieving bas***ds again.
 

Blazing Hero

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Feb 20, 2015
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Finally! DonkeyRider6492 will be all mine!!!!

I hate to have to say it but I doubt many of the names will be any good...
 

Jacked Assassin

Nothing On TV
Jun 4, 2010
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I feel like I have a cyber squatter.
The only place where I feel like I'm me is everywhere but Xbox Live.

Edit 1
Well at least I got something close to my PSN / Steam / etcetera Gamer Tag
As long as I can call myself a Jack Ass (without some number attached) I feel a lot better.
Edit 2
Weird how I changed my name on The Escapist & it doesn't show up in older post.
Edit 3
Never mind that 2nd Edit did it.... But I'm not going to edit all of my post just so my new user name shows up.